[646] 



THE "HADES" OF HOMER AND THE "HADES 

 OF VIRGIL. 



BY NEIL MACNISH, B.D., LL.D., Cornwall, Ontario. 



(Read iejore the Canadian Institute, Dec. 15^ 1877. J 



In the eleventh book of the Odyssey there is given a description 

 of the visit which Ulysses made to Hades. Virgil devotes the sixth 

 book of the ^neid to the narration of the descent of ^neas to the 

 abodes of the dead. The object of this paper is simply to examine 

 and compare the descriptions which Homer and Yirgil give of Hades. 

 Even a casual examination of the account which the poets in ques- 

 tion respectively give of the peculiar experiences of the two renowned 

 heroes who visited the realm of Pluto, will suffice to convince any 

 one that the ideas of Homer regarding the dead are vague, indefinite, 

 and to a large extent removed from what is material ; while the 

 conceptions of Yirgil indicate a very large advancement, and are 

 characterized by a large admixture of what is material, elaborate, 

 and well defined. The many ages that intervened between the re- 

 spective poets afforded scope enough for the development of minuter 

 details and more diversified views regarding Hades, as well as for 

 enlarging and embellishing the mythological beliefs of a primitive 

 age. It were merely to be expected, therefore, that in Yirgil's time 

 the Greeks and Romans would be in possession of more refined and 

 elaborate theories regarding the dead, and Hades, the abode of the 

 dead. 



The word Hades, or certain forms of it, occurs very frequently in 

 the poems of Homer. Though it is maintained that the term Hades is 

 employed by Homer to designate the god who rules over the infernal 

 regions, it is possible that a double signification ought to be attached to 

 the term. When we consider that such phrases as this are of frequent 

 occurrence, Wu^r} d'^'Aidoade xazrjXdsv, we may suppose that Homer 



